Jabo Ibehre was pleased the U’s never took their eyes off continuing to flip their fortunes in Sky Bet League Two by picking up a crucial three points against Macclesfield Town on Saturday.
The striker stepped off the bench to bag the vital match winning goal in a tight battle with the Silkmen ten minutes from time at the Abbey.
“We knew it was going to be a big game against Macclesfield, especially after the two fantastic results we had picked up in the week before at Lincoln and Swindon.
“It was important that we never took our eyes off the prize, we had to be on it and just had to win. It may not have been the best we have played in recent weeks, but you know we got the result and that is what it is all about.
“Sometimes the scrappy wins galvanise you more as a team than others, because you are in it together. Things certainly swung in our favour.
“To come back from the results on the road and pick up another at home, it’s just about momentum now.
“We are now looking up at the table, getting ready for the next big game on Saturday and who knows where we can go from there.”
Ibehre was quick to pay credit to the dogged determination throughout the team which laid a vital platform to grab the victory, and made it that much sweeter at the final whistle.
He said: “It was one of those games, especially when the weather started to kick in with the heavy rain, where we knew it was just going to be a battle.
“We showed that we have got big resolve, and the character to dig in when we needed to. The defenders were blocking and just defending for their lives, so we all dug deep.
“When you win like that sometimes it makes it even better go back onto the dressing room where everyone is like ‘yeahhhhhhh’, and buzzing.
“It came late and we had to wait, but the main thing was that it did eventually happen so we are very happy.”
The former Carlisle man’s match winning contribution was his first goal for the U’s this season, and he was delighted to finally get off the mark.
“I didn’t expect it to take so long but it has come. And now it’s about looking forward and getting a lot more as well as staying fit and building on the momentum and positivity in the group.
“That has always fantastic in the team to be fair, no matter how the results have gone. We’ve kept our heads and the fans have stuck with us as well. It’s all about trying to climb that table now for sure.”